#I'm not a gaming nerd but this is one of the best Polish games to be honest

[cyber-northern-lights]

I think KITT from Knight Rider 2008 could fit to Cyberpunk 2077 universe. The biochip of KI3T's driver would be connected with his systems and fight together against Arasaka and other bad guys. Hah, I'd love to see it

[smallnico]

6, 8, 13, 30 for the oc ask list please!😄

yippee yay yay wahoo! thank you for asking!!

6) If your OC is in a fantasy setting, what profession would they be in the modern day?

answered here!

8) What hobbies does your OC have? What do they do to unwind?

esper has a specific meditation ritual that they do to relax! they hum and pluck random strings on their lyre to feel the vibrations and let their magic just channel through them. stimming.

as for hobbies, aside from playing music for fun, esper collects and polishes swords. on top of being a scary assassin, they are a big sword nerd who likes to learn about different types of weapons, techniques for using them, and how to care for them. post-game i've decided that they take up gardening and herbalism (jaheira teaches them) and teamaking.

13) Does your OC have a rival? How did it start?

not sure! the only person i can think of who would qualify is gortash, and that's mostly because neither of them knows how affection works or how to have a normal friendship. short answer to how that started is that esper framed him for a high-profile murder as leverage to get him to do them a favour, and everything that came after was gortash trying to get them to work for him because they would be unbelievably useful to him. alas the only language either of them speaks is mindgames and one-upmanship.

then the joke answer is this. have an old drawing. they never knew each other as kids but if they did, this is how it would go. because this is basically how it actually went when they were both adults.

ft. baby esper. :)

30) My OC and your OC are friends. This isn't a question. I'm not asking. (How do they respond?)

esper and sunflower should garden together!!!!!!!!! i don't know that they'd get along right away but they can bond over being aasimar/divine-blooded beings who are pretty lonely. i think she would probably intimidate esper a lot, just because she seems like a really genuinely kind person and they have trouble understanding that -- they mirror the people around them but feel stifled by being shaped into someone bright and sunny and good by the emotions of the people they're with -- but i think they would balance each other out well once they got to know each other. i think esper would probably bring her out of her sheltered mindset and encourage her to try new things that seem unpleasant or weird.

as for valora, i think the bhaalblob would fill them with existential dread. they got bodysnatched by bhaal a lot back in the day so they have a bad reaction to the idea of it happening again, or it happening to anyone else around them. esper wouldn't be uncivil toward bb, but they would be uncomfortable, lol :,)

[nanamis-bigtie]

Yay, my turn! ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ) 17, 24, and 58!

Hi Beanie, thank you for the revenge 🙏

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult?

I don't force it out. Depending on what is the reason, I take my time to fuel my body or mind, read, relax, do some simple and repetitive gaming. If I'm stuck plot-wise, I draw diagrams and list bullet points, and then look at it with refreshed brain. If language is being difficult, I type missing words and phrases in polish and translate them when I'm beta reading later. If mind is simply not in mood - well, tomorrow is a day too :)

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

Getting a beta-reader at all cost & establishing that beta-reader always knows better.

It's good to have a fresh pair of eyes to check your text but... not everyone can be a beta and not every beta will do a good job with your text. If they don't understand your style and what you want to convey, they might be the best editor in the whole world and they will still do a shitty job for you.

I had a clash with beta who didn't suit my style while I was still stuck in this mindset. God, it hurt bad :') It took a lot of time and feedback from other people to heal the wounds and understand it wasn't my flaw as a writer, and I still catch myself on beating myself over this unfortunate episode.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most?

Getting feedback.

I think it would be outlining! I quite like morphing a vague idea into a framework that will eventually become a story. Like doing initial research, like watching how the prompt evolves and, very often, becomes a completely different concept than the one that's crossed my mind at some point. Plus, being autistic, I just adore making diagrams, bullet points, plans and such.

Maybe one day I will be brave enough to show how my diagrams look. I have a few stories pre-written like this, waiting for the right dose of inspiration and courage to be turned into fics.

...Maybe when I sit down to draft my latest two obsessions (higu x nerd y/n and postshibuya higunana sandwich), I could actually put some effort in making it readable for others 😂 I have...quite a handwriting LMAO

get to know your fanfic writer

[elizabethrobertajones]

Hi! Top 5 NPCs for ffxiv? :>

Joint 5: the bunny girlfriends - Debroye from the bread quest in EW and Lilja from Bozja in Shb :) Debroye is fighting the good fight for flavour and that hardly needs expanding on after the build up Archon Loaf had in the MSQ as worldbuilding for Sharlayan. Lilja is just a badass bimbo nerd who is good enough to work at the Ironworks but cool enough for shiny nail polish and sunglasses in a warzone. They're small characters who you only meet doing side content but they have strong personalities and they get to rep viera girls who are just kinda nerdy and weird. I am disproportionately affectionate to both of them.

4: Gerolt... I think I've just spent too much time doing relic weapons... He's just awful in a really funny way and I wish him all the best and do all I can to ensure he has a better lot in life, and then one expansion later he is once again in deep drinking debt but saying the realest shit while creating incredible artworks. Also he's sort of 1/3rd the parent of the aforementioned child Frog has so I guess I need to at least get child support in the form of the first free weapon of each quest. The AU version of him and Mowen in the relic crafting tools thing actually really moved me and I'm not ashamed to admit it :')

Anyway in terms of "this guy!!" he's so up there and I'm always thrilled to see what Scenario he's in now. Over the long course of the game he's made an impression...

3: Ameliance. I'm certain she's a mob boss controlling everything from the shadows.

But seriously, no. The twins really are favourites but in terms of Top NPCs I'd been wondering about her the whole time since they do make mentions of their family and writing to mother etc and expectations were high, and getting to know her was so utterly wild because the plot demands on her from all directions of her family - her husband, her father in law, her children, the servants she hires who include the hired goons Alisaie brought to the Coils of Bahamut... Like. She is a character who had to be retroactively constructed from everything that has been said in a way that Fourchenault didn't need to be because his template is clear: He's the Son of Louisoix and burdened with cursed knowledge and the weight of history from immediate family and long lineage of being related to founding fathers of his city; he's EASY to write. Now imagine up the woman who MARRIED him, and has stayed married to him. And is going to stay married to him since the twins dealing with divorce doesn't seem like a probable plotline given the emotional directions of the broader story. Okay, now let's imagine a real woman with actual desires and personality who can fit into this puzzle piece.

Fucking Ameliance.

How on earth they convinced me she's real is a feat of writing I am in awe of.

2: Urianger is so important, like. Leave me alone, Il Mheg got me good because ffxiv seems to get everyone eventually, and now I'm nonbinary and he's my nonbinary icon :') SIGH. A Process Has Occurred. I could say more but honestly, I think that sums up that he is important to me.

1: Erenville............. Listen, I own multiple David Attenborough merch people get me because they know it's an easy gift. I had been a kid who sat and poked rockpools and puddles and I put snails in a jar and and of course picked up frogs in the garden. You introduce a character whose job is Animals and especially claims to be an expert in frogs??? He would have been at least with the bunny girlfriends on this list if this was his only contribution to the story. (And I would have enjoyed my feud in peace.)

Instead he's a fascinating guy who stood up for his workers, has leves where he's commissioning presents for gleaners, happily goes against authority to be helpful from the jump.... And NOW we get more content where we get to see him being a grumpy snarky bastard who is the only rational person in Sharlayan AND apparently has been neglecting being the only rational person in Tural too so off we go to see that in action???

I'm marrying him I'm marrying him I'm marrying him...

[captainkurosolaire]

Update / Valentiones

Just wanna throw-down some appreciation and update on some stuff still plan on tackling this year. Although early this still implies for Valentiones. “Love ye all, have a terrific hearty day.  Should you feel cast aside, leave that t’ me to debunk it. Cause I’ll polish and give you a reason to rewrite that by finding you, picking you up, dusting it off. – You’re f*cking valuable, every single passing Sun t’ Moon, not even I can determinate it, no scale could justifiably do it. Don’t let any foul scallywags tell you otherwise. I’ll handle em’ You focus on shining eruptive, dazzle chaotically! I see you and I am thanking you fer existing, otherwise, I’d be out of business as a pirate, what’s the point of being one if I can’t discover my treasures cross these bland planes?” - CKS

Achieved a decent-chunk of chapters already with my goal this year to be like 60, think I'm almost at 20 this early-in. More than I expected. Thanks for all the energy and power, from low to high. Still got probably 800-1000 chapters I need to realistically create, I get why One-Piece how it is. Once you get real passion for your art, there's an overabundance of stories to further write. xD I most certainly will be around chipping at pieces. In my case, I've always continued for the company that's been on this crazy voyage with me, for always welcoming or being there after long-breaks to RP partners who's integrated or pre-established stuff with me to join in. To my Best Friend/Roomie for always shooting inspiring ideas, always been able to easily click from being nerds who made so many D&D and Tabletop sessions we went to make our own whole world-building and tabletop game. Was pretty dope, but now I'm taking all that same, rich-passion and throwing it to world-build here. I got all the people to credit, I started from here on the community with too that matured and nurtured my character who allowed a very vanilla starting character, to morph into something that I could eventually give deep respect to continue. There's ton's of people and fellows who came from Tumblr as well, that were either forced to give up, or brought down by anon's, all those who suddenly disappeared, couldn't because time-commitments, or became distant, I've kept ingrained in me and I stay ever vigilantly passion in their stead. I overflow like a flowing fountain and multiply for all their sake to continue onward, and the lurkers, all the people who came to me saying they got inspired to join this fandom, all that you've made a impact, difference on me, and make no mistake about it, you matter. I carry your spirit, energy all with everything I endeavor. It's meant a life-changing amount to me have a place to just unleash myself. No better way to say it but -- I LIVE for this shit. So even no matter how infested this site becomes, or when the p*rnbots take over and I have to somehow try to convince them to start up a brothel and least take up RP, I'll still wage on. I may and most definitely die alone at the end. But baby I didn't live like that one-bit or felt like that at-all, I've lived millions.--- Update --- I'm determined to be more regular about this stuff yearly, I've collected so It can get done. I literally think I'll be at this point writing for the next two FF MMO's at this point if I don't start now. For now though, got about two-chapters left in me to do hopefully before February ends. Then I'll probably take a mini-break. I'm thinking about having or seeing if people will send a single, -word- to me in my submission box, and create my own prompt's judged upon that way. Overall, I never-mind getting anything asked or submitted anytime either while, I'm throwing it out. But this way lets people get involved, and I can use my over abundance of characters and try to create-weave a story within the mood or perimeter I need to tell, but I don't have to follow my story-path. Words submitted can be just about anything. Either I can mention you when I do a post with your submission, or you can go on anon for it. Even if no one's down for that stuff, It's all chill. Cause I'm dedicated and determined to do this stuff regardless, whenever I'm around. xD I eventually will take the XIVWrite again too, but I want to do that after a lot of progression or absolutely, my last-rodeo, or its. I've got to establish a lot of Captain's Crewmates, NPCS, I'm even doing slow-burn and building up other antagonists, I got relics, cultures, isle world building, continue thinking of just a mountain of arcs. I really want to get to my sport-arc. After these next two-chapters or so, I'm going to start timeline jumping all over the place. When I'm energized. Anyways that's it, also If need a Valentione's I got ye my hearty, I take no issue in being a rebound. 😎💛

[love-fireflysong]

God, so I've been playing the Assassin's Creed Rogue remaster recently (mostly cause I haven't played it since I beat to original back in like 2016 lol) and I keep getting constantly reminded that while this one and Black Flag are nowhere near my fav AC games, they certainly did shine in one particular aspect for me: the modern day conflict that constantly runs in the background.

I know it's such a controversial opinion, but honestly one of my fav parts of the series has always been the modern day war between the Templar and Assassin orders. Like I love it so much you have no idea. I always get so excited in the older games when you got shunted out of the animus and got to wander around and talk to your companions and read emails or found little voice files that hint towards all the other shit that's taking place while you have your little adventure in the past. I'm obsessed with it frankly. It's why I love the comics so much but have read so little of the novelizations: the latter spends absolutely no time delving into that clusterfuck. (The game novelizations that is, the novels based in the AC world are another thing entirely and I've enjoyed each of them immensely).

Like I need you to understand, I was fucking *devastated* when they removed it almost entirely from Unity and Syndicate, it was only the fact that I still got *some* hints from the databases and whatever video footage they showed that placated me. And yeah I know they made an extremely minor return in Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, but only being able to explore like two or three time with basically no new information honestly means that I wonder why they were even included sometimes. That coupled with the fact that they removed the database entries *entirely* was pretty much a kick in the teeth for me. Sure they have the discovery tours now but that's really not the same thing. The history nerd in me loved loved LOVED anytime I went somewhere new and I got that ping of a new entry to read.

But I digress.

And I get it. I really do. Some people absolutely *hated* the modern day story line while the select few like me adore every scrap of information we can get for it. Hell, fucking Ubisoft's even come out and said that it's literally impossible for them to please everyone. One side will complain about being outside of the animus for a even a single moment while my camp will complain about there not being nearly enough of it. There is legitimately no middle ground to reach for our two camps. And I get that. That's why they made the choice that they're starting to move all of the modern conflict to online so those of us who do love it can seek it out on our own time, while the other can ignore it entirely.

It just sucks for me that while the newer games have a much more polished gameplay and are admittedly funner to play, it's the older ones that have, in my opinion, the best overarching story lines and beats.

[sparklingichigo]

How to Approach Your Demon Crush

Brought to you by Asmodeus Morningstar

Part 1

Asmo's P.O.V

Clearly all this bullshit comes up thanks to how cold Satan acts around people. Sure, he is a diplomatic person who shows up with his polite smile here and there, but everyone can feel his cold aura. Well to be fair, Lucifer is just as cold, but we know it's because of his pride but here we are with Satan whose sin is literally wrath but he's the coldest demon you've ever seen, probably not cold.... more like unattached.

So that's where Haruka comes in, the new student along with her best friend / roommate Ichigo who's currently Satan's study partner / partner in crime. Clearly those two do not get along because when you see them all they did is argue. Who knows maybe that's their platonic love language but anyways here is Haruka asking for advice from the most fabulous of them all, Moi, Asmodeus Morningstar.

As soon as she said she wants to approach Satan I almost dropped my nail polish because how crazy is she?! She's in for a heartbreak.

"You want to what?!"

"I want to approach Satan." That's what she said. Lucky me for not dropping my nail polish because if I did Satan will have to replace it, this is clearly his fault but anyways-

"Darling, are you sure this is a good idea? Satan is pretty cold guy and you're in for a heartbreak..." I warned her.

Of course, as a good housemate I should warn her. Many have tried to approach Satan and all they get is a cold rejection, like actually cold, that man probably should replace our fridge instead!

"But if you insist you can always start with a hello..." I suggest.

"That's it?"

What is she expecting? Going all out with the flirting? Cooking him a dish? Gaming with him? Buying him things? Oh honey, the first one is for me, the second one is for Beel which Ichigo excels at, the third one is clearly for Levi, and the last one is for Mammon! Don't ask me how to approach Lucifer because I don't know how to make that demon's heart melt either. Nonetheless, I still need to explain why saying hello can be a good start... sigh, things I do for my housemate...

"Well darling, he is a very cold man and clearly going all out with flirting would just put you to shame unless you're a shameless being like moi-" I explain jokingly. "And going with the shameless route will only capture my heart, if you're into that~"

"The thing is, I don't see you that way, Asmo." She said.

Ouch! Painful....

"I mean you're gorgeous and all but you're just not my type."

Again, emotional damage. This girl really needs to sugar coat her words!

"I assume you're afraid to be outshined. I understand. Been there done that, the only person that can outshine me is myself of course." I said, which is true because who can outshine the most gorgeous being in this realm? Besides God Himself of course, but he's in Celestial realm so the answer is no.

"But yeah, if you wanna approach Satan you have to be friendly, it'll take some time. But if you wanna be a shameless flirt that would be fun too." I end with a smile.

"I see." She nods acknowledging my words. "By the way, when are they coming home?"

"Not now at least, those two are total nerds." I reply. "And you know how Satan can get with his assignments, especially group projects."

"True...maybe I should give them something. Coffee perhaps?" She asks again.

"Coffee can work, black for him. He needs all the caffeine to work. The bitter it gets the better it is. Maybe he can realize how much you like him." I suggest.

Haruka nods, probably accepting my words and off she goes to make some coffee or buy one. I peek out from my room, and I see Beel passing by,

"Asmo?" He gasps as soon as he sees me.

"Hey. What brings you to my quarters, big guy?" I tease.

"I'm worried about Ichigo. Satan has been overworking her non-stop.... ever since he became her study partner, she's barely home..." Beel says.

"Oh my, that's horrible!" I exclaim dramatically, fake clearly because I'm not surprise. "Maybe you can get her some refreshments?"

"But I'll eat them in the way!" Beel whines.

"My sweet little brother, I'm sure you can control yourself. She's the girl of your dreams, isn't she?" I remind him.

"Well..." Aww look at how cute my little brother is getting all flustered!

"Haruka is going to get them coffee, maybe you can go with her, not to make it obvious." I said.

"That's a good idea! Thanks a lot, Asmo!" He exclaims.

I only nod as I close my door, letting them do their thing. Sometimes you have to go a bit further to approach someone especially someone that you love.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

3'rd person P.O.V

After hearing Asmo's advice here is Beel and Haruka going to the same place. Haruka actually went to Star Devil while Beel goes to Akudonalds because he knows how much Ichigo loves her nuggets. Once they're finished the two somewhat meet at the exit.

"Beel?" Haruka calls out.

"Oh, hey! Didn't see you there!" Beel greets back with a grin.

"Ah, food as always." She comments.

"Yeah, but these aren't for me." Beel replies.

"Oh? Then for who?" She asks.

"Ichigo and Satan. Those two have been overworked and I'm a lil worried." He answers.

"I see, I was planning to give this to them as well. Wanna go there together?" Haruka asks.

"Sure, I won't mind." Beel nods as they go to the student lounge.

In that student lounge, Ichigo is this close to have a breakdown. In all honesty she regrets joining this major, but all the other majors sucks so she doesn't have a choice but to learn Latin with this guy, this blonde prick, her somewhat rival in class because despite how difficult it is she always gets an A, unfortunately not an A+ that's for Solomon and this blonde asshole!

"Did you get it? Or should I run this by your stupid brain again?" Satan ends causing the pink-haired girl to glare at him.

"Do you have that one day where you don't go around degrading people?!" She asks back.

"I don't vibe with stupid people, clearly." Satan replies with a smirk.

"And I have a 3.4 GPA. What the f*ck is wrong with you?!" She replies. Oh, her anger is burning inside her and if this guy does not stop degrading her, she might throw a chair at him this instant, but she doesn't, she sighs and instead mumbles, "should've asked Solomon to be my tutor instead..."

"Tutoring with Solomon will give you a lower GPA. That guy is too lenient on you." Satan answers. "Plus, we made a great team."

"Infront of Mr. Viz that is, not in this situation." Ichigo replies rolling her eyes. "Whatever, we gotta finish this soon we can both have a peaceful night!"

"You are so right." Satan replies. "So, to do this research we will use two theoretical frameworks by...." He continues typing his part as Ichigo finds more books to add up to their literature review, which is an ass in her opinion because they're all in f*ckin latin!

In the middle of that, the student lounge's door opens, and they see Beel and Haruka appearing at the same time.

"Oh great, someone who wants his girlfriend back." Satan says sarcastically.

"Says the one overworking her." Beel replies with the same tone. "And no, she is not my girlfriend, yet."

"What's going on...?" Ichigo trails out confusedly, glancing at Haruka who places two cups of coffee on their table.

"We're here to give you guys' refreshments. You two seem tired and all maybe these can help." Haruka says.

"It can actually, thank you. Appreciate it." Satan says, taking a sip of the black coffee. "Whoa, that is a really strong one!" He exclaims due to the bitterness of the coffee.

Beel glances a bit at Haruka who grins, oh he knows something alright, and that girl is not hiding sh*t!

"And I brought you guys' food!" Beel says, putting the akudonalds Plastic bag on the table.

"Ooh what's in there?" Ichigo asks, rummaging inside the plastic bag before pulling out a box of nuggets. "You got me nuggets!"

"I did, because you like them." Beel replies with a grin.

"What about you? What did you get for yourself? She asks. Instead of an answer she gets a shrug instead. Wow, this is new!

"You didn't get anything for yourself?" She asks.

"Nope, I've had enough food so it's your turn. You guys definitely missed dinner." He said.

"What about me? What did you get me?" Satan asks.

"Their apple pies." Beel nonchalantly answers.

"What?! But they suck!" Satan exclaims.

"That's the only thing you like...what else am I supposed to buy?" Beel retorts with an eyeroll? What happened to the kind friendly demon? Who knows- "what are you guys working on anyways?"

"Our ppt, group project." Ichigo replies, popping a nugget into her mouth.

"Oh wow, uh... good luck you two." That's all Beel have to say because what else is he supposed to say. As much as he wants to whisk Ichigo away from Satan and brings her home and let her rest it's still her work and he can't do that, especially when they're just housemates.

"Thanks....we're working on the literature review, and we're all done." She says. "Right?"

"Hopefully, I want my rest too...." Satan replies. "Let's just finish this and go, we don't have time so you two, if you mind, don't be distractions!"

Hearing that Haruka literally almost shut down because wow, she's here to woe him but here we are. Anyways, the clock has finally struck 10 as the two study partners continue to work on their thing. Lucky for them it's done.

"Good lord, finally!" Ichigo exclaims. "Know what, I'm gonna go first, I want my good night sleep."

"Go on, your boyfriend does want you home STAT!" Satan replies causing him to get smacked lightly by Ichigo.

"Stop that and he's not my boyfriend!" She scolds him.

"Looks like it but hey, who am I to judge." He replies with a smirk.

Ichigo rolls her eyes as she tidies her things up before leaving with Beel who happily whisks her away from her study-partner, aww look at how happy he is skipping out of the study lounge.

That leaves Satan and Haruka in that study lounge and clearly that blonde girl has fallen asleep causing Satan so sigh,

"You humans and your sleeping time." He mutters.

Nonetheless he has to bring her home, so he did. He puts his things into a magical ball to bring along and carries Haruka all the way to House of lamentation.

As Satan opens the door to his house, he sees Asmo who just went for water and oh boy it was awkward.

"Please don't tell anyone." Satan asks.

"My lips are sealed, brother~" Asmo teases.

"Don't make me seal it for real." Satan warns.

"Oh no need, that girl has been coming for me for advice on how to court you so clearly I should keep my mouth shut or she'll freak out." Asmo replies.

"Huh?!" That's all what came out of Satan's mouth. Now this gets more awkward and confusing. Whatever shall he do?

"She likes you, clearly. I hope your love-radar isn't broken, Satan." Asmo says.

"I hope not..." Satan replies, glancing to Haruka who sleeps peacefully in his arms. "Whatever, I'll get her to her room." He grumbles as he goes to her room, well her and Ichigo's room but does he care about that pink-nette, definitely not!

As he walks towards the humans' room Haruka starts sleep-talking and what he said shocked him the most,

"Satan.... I like you...."

What the f*ck?! He thought, What the f*ck is he supposed to do with this information?! Great, just great! How is he supposed to face her tomorrow when she just confessed in her sleep?!

"You weird girl...." He mutters as he puts her in bed, sighing. He even tidies her bangs for some reason and finally left. What a weird day indeed.

[bloodelves88]

Everything Is Liked Nowadays

In the past 2 years, while trying to figure out if a new video game is worth playing, I've noticed something. Almost every game, good or just okay, are rated highly by users. I usually use Steam user reviews to judge a game, and it worked really well before 2020 or so. When the reviews are positive, I'm pretty much guaranteed to enjoy the game. Nowadays? It's a gamble.

I've also noticed that the exact same thing happens for anime. For anime, I use MyAnimeList ratings. The criteria for me to decide whether or not to watch an anime is if it has a score above 8. This didn't guarantee that I would like the anime, but it was pretty accurate most of the time. Again, this method of filtering seems to have stopped working since 2020.

I've been wondering why this is the case, and I've come to the conclusion that video games and anime have become a lot more mainstream in the recent years, and the lockdown period during Covid has fueled their path towards mainstream status. These two hobbies were definitely not mainstream before 2010, and it only started growing after that. It used to be the nerd thing. The thing the skinny boy with glasses does after school. It used to be something you only share with others when you knew that they were into it as well. Back then, whenever I said I played video games as a hobby, people would reply "Dota?". Nobody ever heard of Company of Heroes, Red Alert, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, or even Warcraft. Nowadays, while people still gravitate towards certain titles such as Fortnite, Valorant, Among Us, or Call of Duty, at least the titles are more varied, and people would have heard of Warcraft or Elden Ring.

Now, why would becoming mainstream cause this issue? Here's why:

Mainstream consumers are newbies or casuals.

Now put down your pitchforks, this is not an insult.

I say this as a definition of how they consume content, and the level of enjoyment they would gain from it. I simply mean that they only consume what's being hyped up, what's popular, and what has the best ratings. They are also possibly but not necessarily new in the space, with little to no experience with older content and content beyond what's popular. Think of a moviegoer who only watches Marvel movies. Something like that.

When you live in a bubble like that, the level of exposure to the medium as a whole is really small. So what happens is that these people begin to think that Spy × Family is the best anime released in the recent years, despite it having nothing much interesting going for it other than Anya being cute and funny. They think Stray is a potential game of the year, despite it being just a cat walking simulator. Don't get me wrong - these two examples are good, polished, and well made pieces of content, but ultimately they bring nothing amazing to the table. A solid 7/10 at most.

I'll use Spy × Family to make comparisons here, since MyAnimeList has scores and a top anime list which will make comparison easier.

Currently, Spy × Family has a score of 8.7/10. This puts the anime above classics such as Code Geass, Great Teacher Onizuka, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Death Note. And it's above newer hits such as Your Lie In April, One Punch Man, Made in Abyss, Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Haikyuu. I don't know how anyone who has watched any of the listed anime above can look at me with a straight face and tell me that Spy × Family is better.

Coincidentally, all of the anime I listed came out before 2020, and Spy × Family came out after 2020. I have a strong feeling that Spy × Family was a lot of people's first, second, or third anime (and Kimetsu no Yaiba probably also being one of them), leaving them with nothing solid to benchmark against.

Think back to the point when you first stepped into gaming, anime, movies, or any sort of hobby. You were looking at content for the first time, and it just seemed that nothing could be better than what you just experienced. You would probably have rated lots of things higher back then, compared to now. I myself am guilty of this, and it's perfectly normal behaviour. As a result, a lot of popular content that newbies consume ends up being rated positively as it's designed to appeal to the masses.

Then there's the effect of social media, Youtubers, Twitch streamers, etc. Followers would naturally all have the same tastes towards certain types of content, and if the person they're following likes a certain game or anime, then it drives their followers to consume said content, which in turn brings up the ratings once more since they have a high likelihood of enjoying it. A point could be made about how these followers would be on the hardcore side of things, and you might be right. However I do think that people following Youtubers is also becoming pretty mainstream nowadays, especially among the younger folks.

Put together these two factors (and I believe that these are not the only two), and then apply it to how mainstream consumers are far more populous than the hardcore population, and this would then affect a lot of content. Out of a group of 1000 people, 200 might be hardcore, and 800 might be casual. And to make the ratings exaggerated, if the hardcores gives 0/10 ratings and the casuals give 10/10, you end up with an 8/10. More realistically, the hardcores would give it anywhere between a 6-7/10, and the casuals giving it a 9-10/10, resulting in a score of about 8.5-9.5/10. Apply this to every single piece of content out there, and you end up with everything being rated positively.

So now I have to read the reviews instead of just relying on scores. And even that is starting to become a problem, especially on Steam. The reviews on the store's front page are starting to become absolutely useless and meme-ish, since people are trying to get upvotes and funny votes. Sigh.

Finally, take everything I wrote with a pinch of salt. This is just my speculation and opinion. There's no actual research or statistics backing this up. It's just my guess as to why this has been happening. Am I right or wrong, who knows? I just know that the problem exists.

[arsuns-ramblings]

hii thanks for the tag! i love doing ask games in their entirety yinstead of how they were meant to be done lol

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen? i'm on pc rn but it's a picture of some minecraft bees :]

🍫 Cheese or chocolate? probably cheese i prefer salty foods and will sometimes eat cheese even after i had my dessert. I do love chocolate tho

✨ Do you have any nicknames? Max, Sunny and Sun

🎵 Last song you listened to? Infinity Edge by Pentakill i love listening to metal while working

✏️ Have you ever written fanfiction? oh gods yes shamefull things when i was a kid. I still am but i struggle to write so i don't post much :((

😏 Are you on discord? Yup username is arsun_ send me a dm if you wanna add me or i will probably refuse the ask TwT

 💛 Do you have any piercings? Yup snakebites

🐰 What do you think says the most about a person? How they treat other people

🍪 If you were a cookie, what kind would you be? the granola soft heart cookies their the best

🐶 Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? cat, i love my dogs but cats are better

🎧 Headphones or earbuds? headphones, earbuds hurt

🌼 What’s the last thing you said out loud? "In it? TOMMY INNIT??" i am not obsessed okay? (yes i am)

🙃 What’s a weird fact that you know? there's a type of sea slug that shoots their genitals to the female to reproduce and then dies.

🦉 Are you a morning person or a night owl? night owl i hate waking up

🧸 Favorite place to nap? classic but my bed

🏳️‍🌈 Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community? Yup! trans (demiboy nonbinary) gay and polyamorous

🦋 Describe yourself in three words. gay hyperactive bitch

👖 Jeans or sweatpants? jeans i hate how i look in sweatpants

🥤 What’s your go-to Starbucks order? i don't go othere ew

🧡 A color you can’t stand? in the right context i like any color tbh

💎 What’s your most prized possession? my glerch probably andeveryy drawings and notes/ birthday cards my friends gave to me

☕ Coffee or tea? tea but only iced

🦖 Favorite extinct animal? i don't think i have one-

🌙 How long have you been on tumblr? since july 2023, not that long but i did not realize that much time had passed

🌴 Desert island item? if i have the basics for survival then lots of paper and pencils

🐸 Describe your aesthetic. emo/ punk but i don't have the motivation or money to do much with my appearence so i look more basic alt

🔮 What’s your dream job? book seller like please let me be surrounded by books/ mangas all the time

💙 Relationship status? painfully single

🌿 Describe your favorite outfit. any shirt i really like with shorts, long socks and my red shoes

🎤 Is there a song you know all the lyrics to? so many i love musicals and i love to sing so like yeah

🤎 What color is your hair? dark blond kinda

💌 Do you talk to yourself? all the time

💄 Do you wear makeup? not really except for crayon and sometimes nail polish bc i'm emo lmao

🌸 Best compliment you ever received? "you look like the lovechild of will solace and nico di angelo"

No pressure tagging for funsies: @atlantis-just-drowned @ace-cat-nerd @aceof-diamond @red-hoods-left-sock @yeathisworks @i-dont-know-i-just-like-dragons @plaguethewaters

~ 💖 ASK GAME 💖 ~

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen?

🍫 Cheese or chocolate?

✨ Do you have any nicknames?

🎵 Last song you listened to?

✏️ Have you ever written fanfiction?

😏 Are you on discord?

 💛 Do you have any piercings?

🐰 What do you think says the most about a person?

🍪 If you were a cookie, what kind would you be?

🐶 Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?

🎧 Headphones or earbuds?

🌼 What’s the last thing you said out loud?

🙃 What’s a weird fact that you know?

🦉 Are you a morning person or a night owl?

🧸 Favorite place to nap?

🏳️‍🌈 Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

🦋 Describe yourself in three words.

👖 Jeans or sweatpants?

🥤 What’s your go-to Starbucks order?

🧡 A color you can’t stand?

💎 What’s your most prized possession?

☕ Coffee or tea?

🦖 Favorite extinct animal?

🌙 How long have you been on tumblr?

🌴 Desert island item?

🐸 Describe your aesthetic.

🔮 What’s your dream job?

💙 Relationship status?

🌿 Describe your favorite outfit.

🎤 Is there a song you know all the lyrics to?

🤎 What color is your hair?

💌 Do you talk to yourself?

💄 Do you wear makeup?

🌸 Best compliment you ever received?

💞 @ your favorite blog.

Reblogs are appreciated!

[beels-burger-babe]

All is Fair in Dice and War

***Soooo, @bagelsinatoaster I love this request. However, you didn't specify which board game and as I am a huge nerd I decided to take some creative liberties and combine this with another idea I've been meaning to write which is: MC introducing the demon bros to Dungeons and Dragons. I certainly had fun with this and I hope you like it!*** Summary: Leviathan's world is flipped upside down when MC tells him there is a game that basically allows him to be the Lord of Shadows in real life!! He demands that his brothers join him as MC introduces them all to the chaotic shit show that is Dungeons & Dragons. For once, it was a peaceful day in the House of Lamentation. Lucifer was lounging in the living room with a cursed record playing softly in the background. For once, Satan had willingly joined him and was sitting by the fireplace, thumbing through a book on the human world. Belphie had been passed out on the couch when he arrived and was still laying there with an impressive puddle of drool collecting near his mouth. Even Asmodeus and Beel had joined in, with Asmodeus gently humming to himself as he painted his nails and Beelzebub happily munching on a snack as he enjoyed the sight of his family getting along. Yes. It was perfectly quiet and peaceful, and Lucifer didn't even have any traces of his regular migraine. But of course, nothing good lasts forever. Everyone jumped as the door slammed open and a wide-eyed Leviathan dragged you into the room. The two you very closely followed by Mammon loudly complaining. "Oi! You're gonna hurt them! Cut it out, Levi!" Lucifer sighed and closed his eyes, momentarily mourning the peace that he had just barely begun to enjoy, and closed his book. "Leviathan, let MC go. What are you freaking out about this time?" Lucifer regretted asking the moment the words left his mouth. Levi looked at it with the expression he only ever got when his limited edition Ruri-Chan merch arrived; his eyes were wide and glittering with excitement while his face bore a grin so large that Lucifer was surprised it didn't rip his skin. The third-born was practically vibrating as he let go of your wrist and pushed you forward. "Tell them! Tell them about the game!"

You laughed at Levi's excitement and casually rubbed your wrist. "I was just telling Leviathan about a game that we play in the human world called Dungeons and Dragons-" "You get to make a fantasy world that everyone plays in, and everyone makes characters. You can be a wizard and cast spells against a huge monster! Or a war hero fighter that has been betrayed by his brother! Or a noble knight who is looking for his lost kingdom! And the best part is that it's real!" Levi interrupted, nearly jumping in place as stars danced in his eyes. You put your hands out towards him to try and calm him a bit. "Well, not entirely real. It is played in person, but it's a role play tabletop game, meaning it mostly relies on the players' imagination. That is unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on 3D maps and figurines of your characters." Levi's eyes grew even wider, if possible, as he started shaking his hands up and down. "I CAN HAVE A FIGURINE OF A CHARACTER THAT I MADE?! GAAAAAAAAAHH!" A pillow flew across the room and hit Levi square in the face as a now awake Belphegor glared at him. "Will. You. Shut. Up?" the Avatar of Sloth hissed as a dark dangerous aura grew around him. Beel gently patted his twin's head in hopes of calming him. Leviathan pouted as he noticed no one else seemed to be getting excited about it. "C-Come on guys! This isn't even a video game! It's a thing that we can all do together and personalize it to be something that everyone will like. It'll be fun! Right MC?" You nodded as you gently tossed Belphie's pillow back over to him. "Yeah. I love D&D. I played it all the time in the human world. There's action, suspense, and even romance if you really wanted it," a couple of the brothers perked up at that. "I could put together a one-shot for you guys to try it out if you'd like? I'll help you make your characters, and we can all get together for an evening and play it sometime in a couple weeks." The room went quiet as everyone thought it over. Most of them had no interest in the game itself, but if it was organized by you... "I'm in," Beel decided with a nod. "I think it will be fun. All of us trying something new; it could be neat." Satan casually flipped a page in his book, "The creative aspect of it is definitely appealing. We'd be the masters of our own fate, and that most certainly piques my interest." Asmodeus smirked as he put the cap on his nail polish. "And you said it could be whatever we want? My, one might say that this game could help our wildest fantasies come true~" he made sure to wink at you as he giggled. Belphie, who had only just got back his pillow, scrunched up his face in disgust and launched it at Asmo. "Don't make this weird Asmo," he looked over at you and shrugged, "So long as you do all the work in putting together the character thing, sure. Why not?" Mammon looked over at you from the corner of his eye. "Ya mean to tell me, that you can make it so I'm some awesome, rich, and powerful prince?" Asmo scoffed as he pushed the pillow off his lap. "Please Mammon, even the world of make-believe has its limitations." Mammon blushed as he growled at his brother. You just chuckled and teasingly elbowed his side. "Don't listen to him, Mammon. There is a set amount of how much money you start out with depending on your class and background, but I'm sure we can find something that will make you happy." The second-born blushed even more as he grumbled quietly under his breath. Lucifer tilted his head in thought. "I suppose that if everyone else is playing, naturally I must as well," he stood and began to make his way to his office. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with MC." The next two weeks were spent planning and carefully figuring out the details of the one-shot and the characters that everyone was going to play. Levi was, of course, the first one who came to you to build his character. The two of you spent hours going through the Player's Handbook and sourcebooks to find the perfect build to recreate the Lord of Shadows. In the end, you put

together a human fighter that you gave a couple magic items to make Levi's vision really come to life. It seemed basic, but for the Lord of Shadows, it was perfect. The moment the two of you finished, Levi dove to his computer and ordered a custom-made mini that looked exactly like his character. Satan was genuinely interested in the game, especially after he learned about all the lore and rules behind the different classes and races. You had just been chilling in your room one day when the door burst open. Satan stood there with wide eyes holding a copy of Volo's Guide to Monsters. "MC, why didn't you tell me there are cat people?!" You chuckled, knowing exactly where this was going. "They're called tabaxi, but yeah, they're basically cat people. Would you like to play as one?" He scoffed and snapped the book shut. "Is that even a question? Of course, I'm playing as one." After some discussion and bouncing back and forth between classes a couple of times, Satan settled on a tabaxi druid; that way he not only looked like a cat, but he could speak to them as well. After a few days of you spending time with his brothers focusing on getting their characters ready, Mammon came to you wanting the coolest, most epic character ever. At first, it was clear that he wasn't fully invested in the process, but as he saw the customizable options and all the cool stuff that his character could have, you got his attention. You ended up designing a golden teifling rogue (you tried to tell Mammon that teifling usually wasn't yellow, but he gave you such a sad look that you couldn't say no) that was decked out with piercings and gems all over its horns and tail. He tried to act like he wasn't that excited about it, but one day during class you caught him doodling what looked like a stick figure version of the character on his sheet with a big smile on his face. Asmodeus came in shortly after Mammon finished,

insisting on having the most charming and beautiful character there was. You tapped your chin at the request. "I mean, stereotypically bards are extremely charming and...well seductive...almost too seductive. But that's only thei-" Asmo had hearts in his eyes before you could even finish. "That's what I want to be!" You sighed and made a mental note not to include any dragons in the session as you marked Asmo down to be an elven bard and helped him create his character sheet. You hadn't heard anything from Lucifer for nearly that entire first week, until one day as you were lounging in the living room, he walked in holding a stack of resource books. "Ah, MC. I've been looking for you. I wanted to inform you that I will be playing a half-elf multiclassing as a paladin and hex-blade warlock." You blinked at him as he put all the books down in front of you. "O-Oh. Would you like help putting together your character sheet?" He just grinned and began to make his way out of the room once more. "I've already done it. I must admit that this was quite a bit more interesting than I thought it would be," and with that he was gone, leaving you to try and figure out what had just happened. With only a few days left until the one-shot, you had to go find the twins and get them to make their characters. Beel apologized like crazy for you having to track him in down in order to get his character made. The poor guy was in the middle of peak Fangol season and had completely forgotten. Once the two of you sat down in the kitchen with an empty character sheet in one hand and snacks in the other, Beel gave you his full attention. He put a lot of thought in his character and wanted to make it really good since he appreciated that you were doing something that they could all do as a family. He bashfully decided to play a halfling. Not only did the little creatures share his love for food, but he thought it would be neat to try being small for once. His class was also a surprise. After carefully flipping through all of the class options, he had eventually settled on a cleric. "They're the healers, right? This way I can help the others if someone gets hurt." You gave him a huge hug then and there. Belphegore, on the other hand, was not so easy to work with. "Belphie, come on. Just flip through the book and choose something!" He groaned into his pillow and rolled onto his side to glare at you. "I told you I would play if you did all the work for me. Me flipping through a book is work. It's not happening." After an entire hour of trying to get him to cooperate, you gave up. In retaliation you made his character a goblin barbarian, just to drive in the fact of how much of a brat he was acting like.

Finally, the day came for you all to play the one-shot, and much like you expected, it was complete and utter chaos. You had tried to maintain some structure and keep everyone on track, but it was hopeless. Levi and Satan were taking the game seriously and, Diavolo bless them, were the only reason their party was making any progress. Mammon was trying to pick-pocket every non-player character that they met while Asmo distracted them by flirting. This worked great for them until Mammon got caught and would've died from the resulting injuries if it wasn't for Beel. Speaking of Beel, the poor fella was trying his best to do well in the game but kept getting confused by all the rules and different stats and modifiers. Belphegor spent most of his time, trying to explain it to his twin, but in the end, Beel accidentally ate his dice and Belphie passed out on his shoulder. And then there was Lucifer. He had been mostly quiet the entire game. Surprisingly, he let Levi and Satan take the charge in any investigations and puzzle-based interactions, but he did so with a smirk. You had a funny feeling in your stomach that he was up to something, and you were right. It was the final boss. Satan and Levi were on the edge of their seats, having worked so hard to get the party to this point. You smiled, knowing that one of the best parts of D&D was finally taking down the big bad. In this case, you had prepared a beholder for them to fight. It would be no easy task. The fight should have required them to work together in an epic battle of wits, magic and melee attacks. Only, when everyone rolled initiative, Lucifer went first. The eldest smiled as his eyes sparked menacingly. "For my bonus action, I'd like to use my hex blade's curse on it, which allows me to add my plus four proficiency bonus to all damage, and makes any rolls of nineteen or twenty critical hits. I will then use my long sword with divine smite at third level to attack him and attack him again using my extra attack," barely giving you time to process what he said, Lucifer rolled his dice twice. "And that would be a nineteen and a natural twenty, meaning they're both criticals due to the curse. That should hit, yes?" "Wha-" You could only watch as Lucifer, now with twice the amount of damage due to his critical rolls pulled out a disgusting number of dice and rolled them all. And of course, with his luck, they all rolled high. "So that's 90 points of damage plus the extra damage from the curse and the bonus from my duelist ability per attack, brings this 102 points," he smugly perched his chin on top of his hands as the table gaped at him. You gulped and looked down at the beholder's character sheet, "Y-You just took o-over half of his hit points in one round..." His grin widened at the information, "What, like it's hard?" You never got the chance to finish the game, as Satan burst into his demon form and pounced on Lucifer, the eldest laughing like a mad man, while Levi tore up his character sheet in a fit of jealous rage. Levi never asked to play with everyone again after that. ***This was just so self-indulgent and I just- I loved it. It combined two of my favourite things and I have never been happier. This was more crack than fluff, but either way, it was fun and I hope you nerds out there enjoyed it 🥰 Thanks again for the request @bagelsinatoaster!*** Taglist: @mimik248 @roseytoesy @ester-is-here

[callmearcturus]

i love backloggd, it enables me to unleash my ultimate pretentiousness

Metal Gear Solid (1998): ★★★★★

This game made me pretentious and queer, and I owe it a lot.

Metal Gear Solid 2 (2001): ★★★★☆

I don't know how this got made to be honest. So when people talk about Kojima as a brand all his own, I think it's important to understand that somehow, this pop culture philosopher military nerd got a triple A budget and used it to make art games. If you strip out the precision and polish and hours upon hours of voice acting from these games, the Metal Gear franchise would be most at home on itch.io with the other Esoteric Weird Games.

MGS2 is the pinnacle of that. Konami said "hey Kojima, here's an enormous budget and huge team, make a sequel to that game everyone likes" and Kojima said, "Sure but its going to be a game about how none of them really want a sequel to MGS1 and how such a thing is intellectually impossible," and Konami went, "whatever dude so long as it sells."

And boy howdy did it sell. And singlehandedly define the PS2 generation and its capabilities.

Anyway, four stars. BTW Snake and Otacon's handshake is the konami code.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004): ★★★★★

Despite not having Otacon, this still manages to be the best Metal Gear. Shocking, I know. But this one still feels genuinely affecting and like it's trying to say something profound. Like many Metal Gear games, MGS3 is a conversation, but its like the person talking to you is trying desperately to explain something just can't quite get the words to line up right. But you feel it! Emotionally, you understand.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) ★★☆☆☆

This game is one prolonged creator tantrum from Kojima. I can metaphysically feel Kojima sitting beside me and sighing as I continue to play. He's such a pissy little fuck with this one honestly. This game is a conversation, but it's a lecture. I love it. It's fucking terrible.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010): ★★★☆☆

This one is so solidly an emotional precursor to the actual trauma of MGSV, it's hard to measure it on its own story merits. I enjoyed it greatly, however a lot of it just feels like Kojima Productions flexing how much they can pull off with the PSP. The fact this game exists, that it's functional, that it pulls off everything it does, that the multiplayer works so well, that there are literally so many fucking mechanics the game is still lightly tutorializing you hours and hours into the story, it's incredible. How did they do this?

Like here's the thing about Hideo Kojima, is that in an industry that hemorrhages talent, Kojima has been actively making games since before 19fucking88. And it shows. Give him a talented team and he can make absolute goddamn magic. That is what really sets him apart.

And MGS:PW is not my favorite Metal Gear but it is the apex of that talent. This game is a flex.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014): ★★☆☆☆

ay yo hideo what the hell

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015): ★★★★★

I have no idea if I want to rate this 5 stars or 2, because it's flawed as hell. We have here maybe the apex of Kojima's weird uncomfortable sexism. We also have the apex of his gamecraft. It has sequences that are unearned and dreadful and make me frustrated, because Kojima, you asshole, I know you can do better! You gave us the Boss for god's sake, I know you got it in you!

But it also has maybe one of The Actual More Affecting Sequences In Metal Gear, with The Hospital Sequence. Not the opening one, the other one. Yeah.

There is so much here. To me, this feels like the final draft to MGS4's original conceit. The hugeness, the refinement, the emotional growth, the maturity of the themes. I said that MGS4 was like a creator tantrum. With MGSV, I feel like I'm in perfect sync with Kojima and the pathos he wants to lay out. In the same way MGS4 made me roll my dang eyes out of my head, MGSV works. For someone who has been influences by Metal Gear for most of my life, MGSV feels like… a moment of mutual respect.

Screw it, five stars.

[whispering-jabberwocky]

Oh baby, my time has come!

I'm actually a huge name nerd and most (not all) of my brainchildren have a very meaningful names. Let's start!

Samir Rihh

He is my dnd character: rogue/wizard air genasi. We play in an fantasy setting inspired by India, Africa and Middle East. He was inspired by the tale of Alibaba and Forty Thieves.

First of all, his surname is, I think, morroccan and it means "wind". I'm not 100% sure since it was a wild google search some time ago, and I can't find this page anymore.

His first name was given to him after his great grandmother - Samira, who loudly and proudly banged a djinn for money. The name actually has two meanings, depending on a country of origin. In India it would mean "a light breeze". In arabic countries it means "companion in evening talk". Both match him pretty well, especially after heartfelt conversation with Lia during night watch.

Now, before he was using his bithname, he used a lot of nicknames. Our dnd party met him under "Nine". It was simple, he only got nine fingers at the time. I really wanted to play with someone with a weird nickname then. After he get his missing finger back, he began colling himself "Spectre", because that is what Tanit, our necromancer and his best friend, was calling him, after their first meeting in the desert. She saved his life, as he was stumbled upon a caravan she was traveling with, almost bleeding to deat due to his famous finger getting chopped off. His other known nicknames include "Dragonfly" and "Blackbird". Granted, all of them sound different to us, since we play in Polish.

Lanaya

She was my first dnd character. A wood elf druid, who is secretly a werewolf.

I must say, I did not do her justice. I had trouble playing her properly as I never really get a good grip of who she is.

She was raised in a pretty hippie elven society, where there was a druid in every family. Everyone knew each other, so nobody bothered with surnames. Therefore she doesn't have one.

As for her name i ripped it of from Dragon Age Origins, but also kind of meaningfully. In the game, Lanaya was a First to the Keeper of the Dalish clan, that the Warden may recruit to stop the Blight. However, the Dalish currently have problem with werewolfs attacking their camp.

Mash

Mash is my sweet baby warforged warlock.

The thing is there are some gender shenaningans about them. As his owner never gave him a proper name and called them simply Machine (Maszyna in Polish), they were officialy refered to using feminine pronouns and conjugation (maszyna is a feminine noun in Polish). However, since Mash in a concious being and wishes to be his own person, he uses masculine pronouns and conjugation, while talking about himself. He also calls himself Mash, instead of Machine.

Honorable mention of my FFXIV babies:

- J'lico Khat: she is goooone, but au ras are prettier, what can I say? She was my main miqo'te girl from Seekers of the Sun. Her name was 100% lore friendly, but also a huge troll, as it was a sorta phonetic way to spell "Jellicle Cat". You know, like from Cats the musical? I started playing in pandemics and it was the last movie I saw in the cinema at the time.

- Suiren Aijiro: us what J'lico has become. Did I mentioned au ras are prettier? Anyway, it was a bit of a spontanious decision, but I needed a nice, old-timey japanese name. To be lore friendly! And there is a character named Suiren in a comic I am making with my sister. So I stoled it. From myself. I feel kinda weird about it tbh. Primarly I came upon it in a manga Hibi Chou Chou (this is not a recomendation, this shoujo is bland). It means "water lily". As for Aijiro i took it from list of traditional japanese coulors. This one is white with a hint of indigo.

-Soren Wolpertinger: my beautiful bunny boy. Ok, so Soren means "strict, severe" and that's not a vibe, but I adore the sound of it. And Wolpertinger is a german cryptid - a creature with rabbit head, squirrel body, deer antlers and wings of a pheasant.

Now, I don't really know who to tag, as Vio already tagged everyone I know, who would be intetested. So feel double tagged! Spill the beans!

OC name meanings tag!

Stealing from @albatris :3

Rules: Search and post the meaning of your OCs’ names (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! Bonus if you can find something for their last name too

Emerald "Emmy" Acero:

"So, uh. Don't think I ever got the chance to give you my name. It's Emerald—" "—Like the gemstone?" "-Yeah like the gemstone. You can just call me Emmy though. Everyone else does."

Emmy's first name is pretty self-explanatory. His last name, Acero, is Spanish for Steel. His father, Orion Acero, picked it out when transitioning as a way to distance himself from his dead identity and any ties to Emmy's other father (whom has no idea he even is a father). Therefore, once Emmy was born, it became his last name as well. The only thing Emmy has even been told about his other biological parent was that he is a 'deadbeat musician' and that Orion didn't want Emmy to end up going down the same path.

OOC, Emerald was an import of my D&D rogue, Immeral (Immi), when I was invited to my first VtM game and had trouble coming up with a character thanks to Long Covid brainfog. What started as a modern clone of an existing character ended up evolving into his own being and is hardly recognizable from his D&D origins. The most notably being Emmy is an absolute heart of gold, dumb of ass. And Immi is a Lawful Evil dumpster fire. Which brings us to...

Immeral Ethanasath:

The character that would become one of my most replayed and AU'd to death (quite literally in most of his games) was a last minute randomly generated lawful evil rogue as a loyal subordinate for my buddy CerberusKnight's Conquest Paladin, Ajexs. Everything from his appearance to his subclass was randomly assigned in a scramble to have the character ready for a D&D one-shot. I had so much fun playing him I put him in a longform campaign to determine his origin story. Then COVID absolutely bodied me in mid 2020 and left me with less than stellar focus or creative function. I stopped playing spellcasters altogether because I couldn't keep up with the complexity and found it hard to create even new martial classes that didnt feel like cardboard cutouts. So I played Immi again. And again.

As for how he got his nickname, English is not CerberusKnight's first language and he had a lot of trouble pronouncing Immeral, often adding a 'd' to the end and accidentally calling him 'Immerald'. So we made it canon that Immeral loves nicknames because Common is also not his first language, so he told the paladin Ajexs that he could just call him 'Immi' as long as Ajexs let him call him 'A.J.' in return.

So of course, you can see where once I imported him to a 'human' setting, 'Immeral' naturally became 'Emerald'. I've only just recently gotten into a place of recovery where I can create new characters again, but I've been playing iterations of this disaster since 2019 and he holds a special place in my heart.

And as far as I know, the name means absolutely nothing and in canon, Immi picked it out himself when he hit a century old, aka elf adulthood.

Javier Andres Peña:

Emmy remembers the little message he found once he was awake again. Scrawled on a sticky note and left stuck to his cracked phone screen: Don’t walk home by yourself anymore, okay? —Javier

Javier, the Spanish derivative of Xavier, means 'new house'. Andres is a derivative of Andrew, meaning 'manly' or 'warrior' (hilarious, considering this man is the walking personification of toxic masculinity). Peña originates from 'de la Peña' or 'by the cliffside' or 'by the rocks'

I can't take the credit for this one. Javier started as a backstory character for Emerald (the one responsibly for Emmy's turning, specifically) created by that game's Storyteller. However, the original version of that game flopped horribly and I left it after being treated quite poorly by the storyteller and one of their players. Myself and two other folks from the game liked our character interactions so much we decided to split off and keep running the game, set in a new city. And of course, Emerald ended up reaching out to his renegade ex to escape one court and arrive safely half a country away.

Javier's role ended up being upgraded from a backstory character to a proper NPC by @zeeseal, but while sorting out Javier and Emerald's history, Javier ended up becoming our shared brainchild. Our beautiful disaster son. And of course, Emmy endearingly refers to him as 'Javi'.

I finally got a chance to play Javier as a true PC when I was invited to a game set in 1982 Melbourne Australia, as Javier's backstory included being turned in the 1980s and it seemed fun to explore what he was like before he became jaded with his new lot in unlife as an eternal 20something. I often poke @zeeseal for her input on how our terrible terrible son would react to certain things for the first time and the game has been a blast so far. Especially being American and playing an American character stuck with no home and no money in Australia with other Australian players/PCs and Storyteller.

As for tags, I'm sniping @bludoods, @whispering-jabberwocky @mayaminamoto, @sayonaramidnight, @raceofhearts and @ichithecupcake.

(And anyone else who wants to do it)

[lalka-laski]

Are you independent or dependent? I rely on others a lot but that's ok. Life is a collaborative effort and no one can do it all on their own.

If you could put your life into a category, where would it go? Mess?

How many animals do you have? Zero, and I have no intentions of getting any

Are you popular? I have a lot of friends and I'm well-liked so, I guess? "Popular" is a weird term though.

What time were you born? 5:45 pm

Have you had any candy this week? Mhm, I made Heath bar cookies the other night (INCREDIBLE) and have been munching on them every day since.

Are you more afraid of tornadoes or hurricanes? Neither are particularly likely where I live so I don't have to worry

Do you like those nerd glasses? ??

Have you ever been in a fist fight? Absolutely not

What color is your house? I live in a brick apartment building

When was the last time you saw a rainbow? I couldn't tell ya

Have you ever ate a crayon? I don't think I have

Ever rode in a helicopter? Nope, and I have no desire to

Do you like rabbits? I love them. They're the only pets I've ever owned.

Do you like mushrooms? I'm warming up to them as I get older. The texture still freaks me out a little bit though. It feels like I'm chewing on an ear... What was the last movie you cried at? I cried SEVERAL times while watching the miniseries Maid. That show really put me through the ringer!

What ice cream flavor best describes your personality? Oh this is a fun question! I'd say mint chocolate chip because I'm classic, generally well-liked, and sweet with just a HINT of darkness.

Would you rather work for a small or large company? It depends entirely on the management of said company. I work for a smaller company now and sometimes I miss the anonymity of larger corporations. It's easier to fly under the radar when you're one of hundreds of other employees.

Where’s your favorite place to buy clothes? Lately it's just been Amazon because I'm greedy and impatient.

How many languages do you speak? Just English and a decent amount of Polish

What was the worst movie you’ve ever seen? It's hard to say because I LOVE me some cheesy, made-for-tv rom-coms. The "worse" a movie is by industry standards, the more likely it is that I'll LOVE it.

What video game have you played the most? I never got into video games. I guess I've played Mariokart or something like that the most, but even that was infrequent.

What was your favorite TV show as a child? LIZZIE MOTHAFUCKING MCGUIRE.

What’s your favorite sport? Soccer

If you were given a brand new yacht, what would you name it? Lady Stardust

Do you believe there’s life on other planets? There has to be!

What is one thing you’re really bad at? Math. Anything that requires logic and reason. Drinking in moderation.

Do you believe in angels? I sure do

Would you rather be a famous actor or musician? An actor, considering I don't have much musical talent. Not to say I don't have acting chops either buuuut, I think I'd have a better shot. If you could have invented one thing, what would it have been? Anything that would make me millions of dollars

What’s your favorite exercise workout? Pilates, yoga, walking

What’s your favorite thing to do? Reading, writing, cooking, crafting, napping

What did you do for your 17th birthday? It was way too long ago to remember

Does your local Wal Mart have benches in them to rest? I think so?

Was your favorite stuffed animal really a teddy bear growing up? Yep, and his name is Lemonade!

If your house was haunted, what would you do? Move the FUCK out. I'm not taking any chances with that stuff.

Are you crazy in love currently? Sure am

Are you good at swimming? I could be better

What’s worse: Slow internet or slow walkers? Those are two of my biggest pet peeves so this question is a nightmare!

What is the rudest thing a guy has ever done to you? Broke up with me a matter of MINUTES after fucking :) :) :)

Do you sleep with the sheets tucked in or out? Out

What do you do to fall asleep faster? Scroll Reddit till I can't keep my eyes open

Do you carry a bottle of water wherever you go? No but I keep meaning to

Ae you afraid that one day you might get cancer? I mean, yeah

Do you usually have to wear a belt with your pants? I should but I don't

Does it bother you when people’s underwear hangs out? I don't care much

Are you usually the person to try new things with your hair? Not at all!

When’s your birthday? July 13

Do you own a bobble-head toy? Nope, I don't think I ever have

What color was the towel you used to dry off with today after a shower? I haven't showered yet today

Has anyone ever walked you home? Mhm

Have you ever liked someone and they were taken? Yes

When was the last time you went fishing? Years and years ago

True or false: You’ve read the book Lord of the Flies? True

Have you heard of the band Yellowcard? Yep, I liked them

Have you ever seen the show Teen Wolf? Nope

Do you have any quotes, lyrics etc on your walls? No, actually Are you a fan of Star Wars? Nah Has anyone ever told you that you have nice hair? Yes and I've actually gotten several compliments on it the past 2 days!

What brand of camera do you own? I don't own one

Is there something you’re not looking forward to? Life is just kind of a clusterfuck of stress right now

Have you ever read the book Thirteen Reasons Why? No but I have watched the series and it enraged me.

Do you wear white pants? Yeah, they're so fresh and fun!

When was the last time you were really angry? I've been grumpy all day thanks to my period. But I wouldn't say I'm "REALLY" angry

Have you ever made a 3 pointer in a basketball game? I've never played basketball

Do you think you look better with your hair up or down? Down, for sure

Do you warm up before you hardcore exercise? What hardcore exercise?

Do you want a pair of Converse shoes? They're not really my style

Are you more of a studs or hoops type of person when it comes to earrings? None of the above

How many shirts do you have of your favorite band? Just one actually

Have you ever wore a tie before? Nope

What did you have for breakfast this morning? Nothing. Unless you count the multiple cups of coffee I had Are you good at art? I'm decent

How many times have you read your favorite book? I'm not one to reread books, strangely enough.

Name one thing that you really hate. Birds

Have you ever tried walking on stilts? Nope, and I can only imagine how that would end up...

Is there a war that you find interesting? Not particularly?

Would you rather live in the city or country? City

Do you think $7 is too much for a movie ticket? Wow, that would be a STEAL! How old is this survey?

Would you like to be a newscast person? I did for a short period of time. I was a Journalism major my freshman year of college and although I was more interested in print, I toyed with the idea of trying out broadcasting.

Do you like word searches, coloring or crosswords better? I like all of the above!

Close your eyes and press a random key on the keyboard. i

How many William’s do you know? A few

What time did you wake up this morning? 7:30ish I think?

Do you enjoy crutches? Ummm.. does anyone?

What’s better: Snapple or Arizona tea? Arizona is my LOVE

Make a word out of the word: Dinosaur. Road When you were younger, did you play with legos? I had the big, clunky ones as a toddler. They were pink, of course.

Do you like Trix cereal? Not really. I'd eat it but it wouldn't be my first choice

Do you get nervous easily? Extremely

How long is your Facebook password? 11 letters

Do you like the movie Mean Girls? Of course

How do you want your wedding to be? Well I'm in the process of planning it now...

Have you seen the movie or show Catfish? Yep, both

Do you hate it when you arrive to something early? I'm always early thanks to my anxiety

Have you ever been on Omegle? Way way back in the day. It was the main event of sleepovers.

Are you still in love with one of your exes? Absolutely fucking not

Do you think it’s attractive when guys wear beanies? It can be

What’s something that makes you feel shy in public? Everything?

Do you like the shows on MTV? Do they even play anything besides Ridiculousness these days?

If you could go back and relive one day, what day? Well at this point I'd like to relive a specific incident a few weeks ago so I could reverse my behavior and make my life easier. Wishful thinking

What’s one word you hate to be called? Sweetie

[kedreeva]

Thanks for the answer on the primary feathers ask thing, it was really interesting and wow, birbs sure are neat. Im curious about why might one need to take out a feather (doesn't matter what kind)? Like, if they aren't ready to be shed, what kind of situation might lead to the decision of pulling a feather out, what might deem the feather too damaged to be kept on? (This turned from good omens into me being a curious nerd about wings, I'm sorry)

For the most part, you wouldn’t remove primary or secondary feathers, unless something was threatening the life of the bird. The biggest example of that is, for example, if a bird began to grow in a new primary or secondary and it broke or was damaged while it was still a blood feather.

The most dangerous thing about blood feathers is that if they are busted, it basically becomes a tube for blood to exit the body, and at such a rate that the bird can bleed out if it’s not taken care of quickly enough. Because there’s no skin to puff and close to stem the bleeding, and the feather shaft is otherwise basically a hollow tube, it’s very unlikely it will scab on its own. In this case, the best course of action is usually to pull the damaged feather and allow the skin wound to heal.

This danger does not hold true for all blood feathers, as the smaller ones usually have much smaller shafts, but it can be extremely painful and cause other problems like infection if it’s not taken care of properly.

Other medical reasons one might need to remove a feather is if it is ingrown. This happens from time to time on birds when blood feathers fail to break through the skin, and usually the first course of action is to cut the skin above the feather and expose it the way it ought to have been normally. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed. However, if the ingrown feather is not caught quickly enough, sometimes its growth is affected, and you’d do better to remove it and let the cut skin heal and hope the next time it works out better.

As for damage to feathers, most damaged feathers of any sort you’d just leave to be sorted out next molt. Damaged primaries or secondaries, in most birds, can have the damaged part clipped off if it’s interfering with their ability to fold their wing right and then also be left to molt naturally. MOST birds are able to function just fine with one or two missing flights. The ones that imping is normally done to, where you’d repair/replace a flight instead of clipping or pulling, is a bird which hunts, ie your birds of prey. They heavily use their flights to maneuvering to catch game, and as such, falconers are generally taught how to imp in order to keep their birds in feather.

There are also, for example in the fairy swallow pigeons, aesthetic reasons people pluck feathers. For those, the every-other pattern is a part of that breed’s show aesthetic. For others, like chickens, color may need to be uniform to show, and breeders have been known to pluck a feather or two before shows. It’s frowned upon, but done.

The only other thing I can think is that some feathers are damaged on purpose, for various reasons. Heavily topknotted birds, like polish chickens, often have their topknot feathers trimmed so they can see. Birds with heavily feathered feet, when they are not showing, may have their leg feathers trimmed for mobility. Extremely heavily feathered chickens like cochins may have their butt fluffies trimmed, so that poop doesn’t get stuck in them. Many people trim primary feathers (or even secondaries) to prevent pet birds from flying (which can absolutely be for their safety, so they don’t fly into anything and get themselves hurt or worse). I had a peacock with a lame leg that we used to clip the train off of every year so he wouldn’t have to drag that weight around. There’s a lot of reasons people would clip feathers rather than pull them.

[pigeonpuddles]

I'm really bad at introducing myself but basically:

my name's Harper (or pidge, based off of my warriorsona/account epithet pigeonpuddle)

I use they/he

I'm non binary and bisexual

I'm Nightcloud's biggest fan

my main blog is @ballroom-kid and my art blog is @ghostpepperwine

I'm 18

more stuff (incl "dni") under the cut but thems the basics

the stuff in question:

I have autism and ADHD. other stuff too but those are the big ones

I'm white (ethnically Polish) and American :P (eng/esp ok!)

I'm a nerd

I don't really have a strict dni because I block/avoid liberally but some things to keep in mind are:

sexualizing minors is weird. if you're okay with that (ie loli/shotacon or "pro fiction") you're weird and should leave.

I don't really have an explicit side when it comes to ship discourse, but I lean more towards being anti than pro. when it comes to warriors specifically, I have a somewhat strict definition of incest so if you're uncomfortable with ships like Hollyleaf/Ivypool you're best off not interacting.

I don't really care about power dynamics or age gaps in ships as long as they're both adults.

if you sexualize warrior cats characters (even as anthros) you're weird. same goes for feral animals in general but this is a warrior cats blog.

If you hate pitbulls I hate you

anyway, cool stuff I like now:

various media fandoms, primarily video games (touhou, d4dj, bandori, revue starlight, madoka magica, Arknights, vocaloid, project sekai, love live, cookie run, etc)

miscellaneous non fandom vidya (rhythm games, monster hunter world, lioden, sylestia, etc)

animanga (madoka, kageki shoujo 💖, shoujosei manga in general, zombieland saga, etc)

musicals and theater, I'm a stagehand :P (revue starlight, heathers, Lizzie, Carrie, H*milton, etc)

weird music (Babymetal, Band-Maid, Tally Hall, Bryan Scary, Red Velvet, Poppy, Zheani, Nova Twins, Jazmin Bean, etc)

science, esp zoology in particular ornithology

worldbuilding

I write fanfic sometimes

I should prawbubbly make a pinned post huh

[tradingjackbs]

2,4,6,11 for the ask games that tell a lot about you ❤️

Hi hi hi hi mx. Fleur thank you for the ask :D 💕

2. Language

Definitely tagalog. I got robbed as a little kid lol :P if I could do this, I'd speak exclusively tagalog to the person who robbed me. Fuck that bitch lmao

4. TV show

I didn't get to watch TV shows as a kid :( or as a teenager even, really. I'd say Phineas and Ferb is probably the closest I got :D binge-watched that shit in my parent's annual free month of Netflix, when that was still a thing

6. Realist, optimist, or pessimist?

I'd like to say realist, but definitely optimist. I just like believing the best of people :<

11. Dragon

I don't have the energy to draw it, sorry :( and I'm a fuckin dnd nerd, so I think a young brass dragon would fit. One who relies a lot more on their physical capabilities than their fire or magic, so they'd be large and a little beat up for their age :P they also wouldn't take the best care of themselves, I think, so their metal scales wouldn't be as polished as their peers, but they would take meticulous care of their wings for some reason. (I'm too soft to be a red dragon, as fun as that would be 😩)